The Domingo Dilemma

[Conchis]

I posted a thread on this about a month ago, but it disappeared very quickly in a somewhat Orwellian manner. Apparently, the forum was worried about 'legal action' if it was discussed. As it's being discusssed in literally every newspaper in the world, I'd be surprised if that was the case.

The once-great Mexican tenor-cum-baritone's performance in Macbeth has been cancelled by the Met 'by mutual agreement' and we are given to understand this signals the end of his career at that House. Los Angeles and Washington have also signalled that he will not appear on their stages again. He is due to sing at Covent Garden next year, but it can only be a matter of time before that appearance is also cancelled.

I hesitate to use the word 'tragedy' to describe what has happened to Domingo, but it doesn't seem altogether inapposite. A man of many talents, acknowledged by his colleagues to be both generous and helpful has been laid low by what we might prefer to call 'a vicious mole of nature'. A wiser course might have been to bow out gently before he was forced out - but I understand that Domingo's desire to keep on working until he drops is closely related to his health. 'If I rest, i rust' has long been his motto. He was treated for cancer in 2010 and made a recovery: stripped of the role that has definined him since he was a teenager, he may well feel justified in just turning his face to the wall.

Those who have seen recent Domingo performacnes - say, from the late nineties onwards - will be aware of a gradual diminution of his powers, not just vocally but also in terms of concentration. For a long time, the prompter has played a major role in every Domingo stage performance. His acting, once 'high definiton', has declined into a few generalised 'operatic' gestures. His attempt to pass himself off as a Verdi baritone has fooled no-one with a serious knowledge of that voice type. To put it bluntly, he should have retired about twenty years ago.

But he still has (or had) an audience - mostly people who just wanted to sit in the same hall as him and breathe the same air. His career - probably the most glorious operatic career there has ever been (never forget, he's the most recorded singer in history) - looks as if it might end in shame and ignominy.

While my sympathies are certainly with the alleged victims, I can't help but feel this is very sad.

PS: If this thread is pulled, can I be told why?

[LHC]

Domingo isn’t due to appear at Covent Garden until June next year. I think the Opera House’s position is that they are reserving judgement until the Washington Opera investigation is completed. Given the timings this probably seemed a reasonable holding position at the time. It is likely that the WNO investigation will be complete by then, and they can make a decision on much clearer information at that point. If he is found guilty, or if there is no decision by June next year, they will have to drop him. I think it would be untenable to allow him to appear in either of these cases.

There is a marked contrast with their treatment of Grigolo, who has rightly been dropped immediately after (allegedly) groping a chorus member on stage.

I agree with you that he should have retired long ago. While there is still a semblance of his voice left, he is not a baritone, he no longer acts and sings with his past intensity, relies on a prompter, and no longer has the breath control he once had. Indeed his current shortness of breath has resulted in lumpy and unmusical phrasing - the line is no longer there.

[Dave2002]

There is a marked contrast with their treatment of Grigolo, who has rightly been dropped immediately after (allegedly) groping a chorus member on stage.

Doesn't sound good.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9989735/italian-tenor-axed-opera-grope/

Was Grigolo in the screened "live" production of Faust which was shown a few months ago? I enjoyed that. Sounds like he went too far in Japan.

[Conchis]

Doesn't sound good.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9989735/italian-tenor-axed-opera-grope/

Was Grigolo in the screened "live" production of Faust which was shown a few months ago? I enjoyed that. Sounds like he went too far in Japan.

Grigolo has always struck me as a perfect example of a great talent matched iwth a weak, immature personality. Plenty of examples of that in the world of opera, past and present!

Yes, there has certainly been a contrast between CG’s treatment of the young italian and the elderly Mexican! Up until the summer, Domingo had an artistic reputation that could survive anything, even two decades’ worth of inadequate performances.

Griigolo may yet surivie this, if he wears sackcloth and ashes for a suitable period and makes sure he NEVER does it again.
But I don’t see how Domingo can. His career is over and he wasn’t able to choose his own timing.

[Richard Tarleton]

the elderly Mexican!

A pedant writes: Domingo was born in Madrid, of Spanish parents. The family moved to Mexico when he was 8, following a tour of Latin America (his parents were singers). His training and early career were indeed in Mexico.

I greatly enjoyed an ROH concert performance of Parsifal at the RFH during the closure - 1998 - he seemed in fine voice then. I can't remember if scores were used. I also enjoyed his Siegmund in 2007, I don't recall the prompter's contribution (I was in the amphitheatre) but perhaps I was just happy to be breathing the same air.

[Conchis]

A pedant writes: Domingo was born in Madrid, of Spanish parents. The family moved to Mexico when he was 8, following a tour of Latin America (his parents were singers). His training and early career were indeed in Mexico.

I greatly enjoyed an ROH concert performance of Parsifal at the RFH during the closure - 1998 - he seemed in fine voice then. I can't remember if scores were used. I also enjoyed his Siegmund in 2007, I don't recall the prompter's contribution (I was in the amphitheatre) but perhaps I was just happy to be breathing the same air.

I saw him in the (famous and televised) Proms Walkure of 2005. No prompter in evidence, but I can distinctly remember feeling he’d lost his way during ‘Erin Schwert verheiss mir der Vater....’ but managed to correct himself before it became too noticeable.

All of my live experiences of Domingo (which began in 2002 and ended in 2014) have been underwhelming. I was aware that he still had the ‘moves’ but was using technique to camouflage a weakened instrument. And the more I think about it, his return to the baritone fach really sticks in my craw. There are plenty of younger Verdi bastiones who might appreciate the opportunities to make an impression in the roles that Domingo is hogging and which he is given just because he is (or was) ‘box office’.

Really - fans of opera are no more mature or discerning than fans of boy bands. They just have more money! I’m reminded of the ridiculous woman from Middlesbrough in that (revolting) Jonas Kauffman infomercial (sorry, ‘documentary’).

[Richard Barrett]

Is this all about his failing voice or about his inexcusable behaviour? There's really no connection between the two is there?

[Conchis]

Is this all about his failing voice or about his inexcusable behaviour? There's really no connection between the two is there?

No obvious connection but the this episode - along with the Levine debacle of 2017-18 - has revealed that the world of opera is every bit as corrupt and ethically bankrupt as the world of pop. Many of us have known this for a long time, but it has been instructive to have it illustrated so powerfully.

As I say, Domingo’s career should have ended twenty years ago, on artistic grounds. It was prolonged well beyond its natural lifespan because a) there was still a market for him and b) his name still lent a certain burnished prestige to the productions he appeared in and the houses where he maintained an association. In the early fifties, the Met had no qualms about cancelling Lauritz Melchior’s contract when they felt he no longer cut the mustard vocally and Rudolf Bing famously took no shit from any of the big-name artists he employed.

Of course, opera houses have long harboured big name sexual predators who have been given a pass because of the different ‘moral climate’ of the period they lived in (witness, Regine Crespin’s experience with Paul Schoeffler) Ironically, had Domingo stepped down himself at the turn of the last century, these allegations may never have come to light. It is somewhat ironical that Domingo’s career has been ended, not by his failing powers, but by ethical transgressions.

[Master Jacques]

Another small point of information: Domingo actually started singing professionally as a baritone, not as a tenor - with his parents' zarzuela company, touring in Mexico. When he started to sing baritone roles (again initially in zarzuela) a few years ago, he sang roles such as Vidal in Luisa Fernanda that he'd already sung on stage in his late teens. Only later did he rise to tenorial heights.

His mother and father were both well-known singers in Spain, his mother (Pepita Embil) being one of the country's leading sopranos, Plácido Domingo Senior a lyric baritone. When Domingo Senior lost his voice they began entrepreneurial work touring with their own company. This was particularly successful in Mexico, where they spent much time with their young family.

[Conchis]

I posted a thread on this about a month ago, but it disappeared very quickly in a somewhat Orwellian manner. Apparently, the forum was worried about 'legal action' if it was discussed. As it's being discusssed in literally every newspaper in the world, I'd be surprised if that was the case.

The once-great Mexican tenor-cum-baritone's performance in Macbeth has been cancelled by the Met 'by mutual agreement' and we are given to understand this signals the end of his career at that House. Los Angeles and Washington have also signalled that he will not appear on their stages again. He is due to sing at Covent Garden next year, but it can only be a matter of time before that appearance is also cancelled.

I hesitate to use the word 'tragedy' to describe what has happened to Domingo, but it doesn't seem altogether inapposite. A man of many talents, acknowledged by his colleagues to be both generous and helpful has been laid low by what we might prefer to call 'a vicious mole of nature'. A wiser course might have been to bow out gently before he was forced out - but I understand that Domingo's desire to keep on working until he drops is closely related to his health. 'If I rest, i rust' has long been his motto. He was treated for cancer in 2010 and made a recovery: stripped of the role that has definined him since he was a teenager, he may well feel justified in just turning his face to the wall.

Those who have seen recent Domingo performacnes - say, from the late nineties onwards - will be aware of a gradual diminution of his powers, not just vocally but also in terms of concentration. For a long time, the prompter has played a major role in every Domingo stage performance. His acting, once 'high definiton', has declined into a few generalised 'operatic' gestures. His attempt to pass himself off as a Verdi baritone has fooled no-one with a serious knowledge of that voice type. To put it bluntly, he should have retired about twenty years ago.

But he still has (or had) an audience - mostly people who just wanted to sit in the same hall as him and breathe the same air. His career - probably the most glorious operatic career there has ever been (never forget, he's the most recorded singer in history) - looks as if it might end in shame and ignominy.

While my sympathies are certainly with the alleged victims, I can't help but feel this is very sad.

PS: If this thread is pulled, can I be told why?

I am genuinely puzzled. ‘Edited for legal safety.’ Yet there has been no editing! The initial post is exactly what I wrote, not a word more nor less.

[Conchis]

Another small point of information: Domingo actually started singing professionally as a baritone, not as a tenor - with his parents' zarzuela company, touring in Mexico. When he started to sing baritone roles (again initially in zarzuela) a few years ago, he sang roles such as Vidal in Luisa Fernanda that he'd already sung on stage in his late teens. Only later did he rise to tenorial heights.

His mother and father were both well-known singers in Spain, his mother (Pepita Embil) being one of the country's leading sopranos, Plácido Domingo Senior a lyric baritone. When Domingo Senior lost his voice they began entrepreneurial work touring with their own company. This was particularly successful in Mexico, where they spent much time with their young family.

Yes, I was aware that he’d begun his professional life as a baritone. Baritones-turned-tenors are not that unusual a phenomenon. And Domingo’s ‘switch (back)’ from tenor to baritone isn’t exactly unheard of, either - didn’t Ramon Vinay do the same thing toward the end of his career?

[Master Jacques]

Baritones-turned-tenors are not that unusual a phenomenon. And Domingo’s ‘switch (back)’ from tenor to baritone isn’t exactly unheard of, either - didn’t Ramon Vinay do the same thing toward the end of his career?

He did, singing roles such as Telramund with some distinction. Domingo's is the only case I know of, though, of a baritone/tenor/baritone "double switch" during a professional singing career. Doubtless there are others, mind you.

[Richard Tarleton]

I am genuinely puzzled. ‘Edited for legal safety.’ Yet there has been no editing! The initial post is exactly what I wrote, not a word more nor less.

The word "alleged" has been inserted before "victims". So, a word more.

[Stanfordian]

Grigolo has always struck me as a perfect example of a great talent matched iwth a weak, immature personality. Plenty of examples of that in the world of opera, past and present!

Yes, there has certainly been a contrast between CG’s treatment of the young italian and the elderly Mexican! Up until the summer, Domingo had an artistic reputation that could survive anything, even two decades’ worth of inadequate performances.

Griigolo may yet surivie this, if he wears sackcloth and ashes for a suitable period and makes sure he NEVER does it again.
But I don’t see how Domingo can. His career is over and he wasn’t able to choose his own timing.

I heard Domingo as Nabucco at Semperoper, Dresden a couple of months ago. He had to withdraw through illness in the second half but in truth his voice has lost a lot of its allure and its probably best if he retires.

Of course I have no idea if his accusers are right.

[Conchis]

I heard Domingo as Nabucco at Semperoper, Dresden a couple of months ago. He had to withdraw through illness in the second half but in truth his voice has lost a lot of its allure and its probably best if he retires.

I saw him in Nabucco at Covent Garden a few years back: it was the last time I saw him on stage.

Nothing about his performance suggested he had an illustrious past. ‘Serviceable’ might be the best adjective, but then I’m not a great fan of the opera itself.

His voice lacks the necessary ‘heft’ and darkness for a true Verdi baritone. Yet he was wildly applauded by a Covent Garden audience, who were probably remembering their own lost youths, as much as Domingo’s, or - as I said earlier - celebrating the fact that they were breathing ‘Domingo air’.

Even ‘respectable’ critics have been cutting him slack until very recently - the Guardian’s Tim Ashley unfailingly writes about Domingo with the feathery end of his quill. But the sad fact is, he can no longer justify his presence on stage on artistic grounds alone (there should be no other grounds to consider). Up until only a few years ago, serious criticism of Domingo - including his reliance on the prompter - was confined to the darkest corners of the internet.